Processors are complex electrical circuits formed on a semiconductor chip. An industry has developed around designing and fabricating processors, and many research and development dollars have spurred higher performance processors. As a result, processing speed and capabilities have increased so dramatically that even similar processors may have significant variations in features and errata. Software designers design programs to operate on specific processors with specific features. Minor inconsistencies in different processors' operations might provide incorrect results or failure of a software program's operation.
Identifying the maximum operating frequency of a processor in a computer system may prevent inconsistencies between the processor, software running on it, and the generation of op-code exceptions. Identifying the processor's maximum operating frequency may equip boot up software to install custom features smoothly. Beyond initialization of the processor, identification of the processor's maximum operating frequency provides computer operators with gray market detection and deterrence. Limiting program operation to equipment that is not overclocked may eliminate economic losses from operating system failures due to overclocked parts. With this identification, computer operators may be able to detect whether a vendor has compromised quality and reliability and set a processor to overclock. In turn, the ease with which overclocking would be detected may deter vendors from setting processors to overclock.
Further, one potential methodology may be to program software to check maximum operating frequency based on each new processor model. A limitation of this methodology is that a program to verify maximum operating frequency be written in reaction to the availability of each new model of processor. Thus, this inherently backward-looking approach is constantly a step behind the introduction of each new processor. The prior art method does not provide immediate detection and deterrence. Accordingly, the need exists for system software such as an operating system, basic input/output system (BIOS), or frequency tracking tools to determine the maximum operating frequency of a particular processor in an architectural fashion and eliminate the need to update the detection mechanism for every model to provide immediate detection and deterrence from processor overclocking.